Tourists seeking 'Despacito' discover Puerto Rico's La Perla

SAN JUAN: Something unusual is happening in La Perla, a poor barrio clinging to a steep hillside between Old San Juan and the sea where the video for the pop hit "Despacito" was filmed. "The gringos are coming!" Outsiders were afraid to venture in before, but since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's megahit, tourists from all over the world are descending on the narrow streets that wind among La Perla's brightly colored houses. "Despacito?" they inquire. And the barrio's residents obligingly point out the locations where the video was filmed: The rocks facing the sea where Fonsi sings the refrain, the sea wall where ex-Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera strolls, the little plaza where men play dominoes - the tables and chairs just as they were in the video. With the video for pop hit "Despacito" on the verge of becoming the most watched on YouTube, a Puerto Rican barrio once burdened...